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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490858">Break Point</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lara234/pseuds/Lara234'>Lara234</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Game, Set, Match...Love? [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supergirl (TV 2015)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Tennis, Angst, Breaking Up &amp; Making Up, F/F, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Kara is a pro tennis player, Lena is heartbroken but still thirsty, Roland Garros, Sequel, SuperCorp, Tennis, Tennis AU, french open, minor agent reign</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 00:08:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29490858</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lara234/pseuds/Lara234</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Three years after her first Wimbledon win, professional tennis player Kara Danvers is now a household name in sports. But her fame and success came at a cost when Lena broke up with her due to busy schedules and rumours of infidelity. </p><p>Fate brings them back together when L-Corp becomes the official sponsor of the 2021 French Open. In the city of love, Kara hopes to not only win the Grand Slam tournament but the CEO's forgiveness too.</p><p>A sequel to my other Tennis AU - Game, Set, Match...Love? but with even more fluff, angst, laughs and smut. Buckle up kids, you're in for a ride!</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Samantha "Sam" Arias/Alex Danvers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Game, Set, Match...Love? [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2166132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Break Point</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I've been watching the Aussie Open and it's inspired me to make a sequel to my original tennis fic! Do I have plenty of other fics on the go that I need to finish? You bet I do, but I just couldn't resist continuing the story of Kara and Lena in the tennis AU.</p><p>I'm not totally sure about some of the traditions of the French Open, and some I definitely added to fit the narrative, but I'll try to be as accurate as I can. I hope you enjoy it!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Absolutely not.”</p><p>“But Miss Luthor, the Roland Garros is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world!”</p><p>“My answer is still no.”</p><p>Mary was a nice woman, Lena knew that. She lived in a decent-sized house with a white picket fence in the suburbs of National City with her husband, three kids and dog called Roscoe. On weekends, Lena knew she drove her kids to soccer practice Saturday mornings and on Sunday she’d bake apple pies. Christ, she was practically the poster girl for the dream American family.  </p><p>Mary was L-Corp’s senior brand manager, and she was responsible for dealing with all of the company’s corporate sponsorships. She was in her mid-forties, so she had a good fifteen years as the CEO which in turn meant that she would constantly use her age to undermine Lena’s authority. </p><p>That was something Lena didn’t like about her. Her persistence was admirable but damn infuriating. Mary was currently standing in Lena’s head office in National City, demanding that she should accept Roland Garros’ offer to make L-Corp the official partner of the tennis tournament.</p><p>“Lena, please think of the publicity!” the brand manager pleaded. “You’ll get to visit Paris and watch the whole thing!”</p><p>The CEO groaned as her eyes skimmed over the presentation Mary had put together on an iPad. Her heart clenched as her brain was flooded from old memories of the last tennis tournament she’d attended. </p><p>Three years ago, when she’d attended Wimbledon with Sam, she could have never anticipated meeting someone like Kara Danvers. The blonde tennis player had stolen her heart as quickly as one of her serves, warming her way into Lena’s life with ease. Memories of their meeting swirled in Lena’s mind as if they were yesterday. </p><p>The longing glances across centre court, walking through the food markets in Camden, their heavenly first night together. Then there was a fight, followed by a makeup, with Kara winning and holding that iconic trophy and the dress ball afterwards. In every memory, all she could picture was the tennis player’s face, lit up with glee. Those piercing blue eyes and a blinding smile. And her laugh...god she missed that.</p><p>Mary couldn’t have known the feelings she'd caused Lena to relive with that simple sentence. She couldn’t have predicted to dig up old pain and hurt inflicted onto her boss by the world’s number one female tennis player. </p><p>After that fateful Wimbledon tournament, things had been a bit of a blur. After a few hectic days of press conferences and media interviews, the blonde’s schedule cleared up for a few weeks. With some free time on both of their hands, she and Kara made the most of it and experienced everything that London had to offer. Date nights on the London Eye, picnics in the park with Alex and Sam, and lots and lots of time was spent in Lena’s hotel room. </p><p>There’d been a lot of sex...<em> oh boy </em>. There were nights, even now, where Lena woke up flustered after some steamy dreams that featured very real memories of time spent exploring the tennis player’s body. But, her hotel room wasn’t just used for sex. Some days they spent hours just lying in each other’s embrace, talking about their lives, loves and everything in between. </p><p>Every second Lena just fell further and further in love with Kara. They were inseparable, trapped in their own bubble of love as Sam called it. Of course her best friend was ecstatic for her, and why wouldn’t she be? Lena could honestly say that she’d never felt or experienced happiness like it.</p><p>When London came to an end, and reality was calling, the problems started. </p><p>Kara won the US Open, but that wasn’t much of a shock to the CEO. The blonde was unstoppable when it came to tennis, so winning all four grand slam tournaments in a single calendar year wasn’t surprising. What was surprising was the media attention surrounding Kara afterwards.</p><p>Her fame blew up out of nowhere. </p><p>Sure, she’d already been somewhat popular in the tennis world, but this had been on another scale. Kara was catapulted from a virtual unknown to a household sport star, similar to the likes of Serena Williams, Tom Brady or Lionel Messi. She’d get ambushed by swarms of fans on the street, stalked by paparazzi whenever she left Lena’s apartment and had her outfits gossiped about in <em> People </em> magazine.</p><p>Before all this, they’d agreed somewhat of a timetable when it came to seeing each other. Kara would fly back to National City and see Lena whenever she could, and the CEO would do the same when it came to watching the blonde play. The fame that came from winning the US Open threw all that out of the window.</p><p>Kara was now unbelievably busy. Her hectic schedule with charity work, tennis tournaments, commercials, sponsorship deals meant that she saw less and less of Lena. As a result, their relationship was put on the back burner. The CEO’s own work-life didn't help, but the less and less she saw of the blonde, the more Lena couldn’t help but think that she was the only one putting effort into making things work.</p><p>It didn’t help things when Alex decided to step down as Kara’s coach. The older Danvers’ sibling made the decision so she could focus on her own relationship with Sam. Alex had always wanted to start a family, and with Sam by her side, things looked bright. Of course, Lena was happy for them, but with Alex no longer coaching Kara, the blonde’s life seemed to spiral even more out of control. Maybe Lena was a little bit bitter about it, but she often wondered if things would have been different had Alex been around to ground her sister.</p><p>Kara hired a new coach and also signed with a talent agency. That was a major blow to their relationship in Lena’s eyes. The talent agency, Obsidian, was headed by one of Lena’s boarding school alumni, Andrea Rojas. They may have been friends briefly, but a major falling out had led to the two former classmates becoming sworn enemies. To say Lena was pissed with Kara was an understatement.</p><p>Of course, Kara saw nothing wrong with her betrayal. She went ahead with Obsidian, and continued as if everything was normal in their relationship. In the final few months together, the two barely managed to meet face to face, and it had dwindled down to nothing more than an occasional phone call every two days.</p><p>The final blow came when news started to circulate about Kara’s close friendship with another tennis player, William Dey. William was the British number one and he was also ranked fifth worldwide. He also happened to be represented by Obsidian too. </p><p>It was no coincidence that Andrea had meddled in Kara’s personal affairs.</p><p>Every newspaper and online publication started speculating that Kara and William were a couple, snapping photos of them hanging out together during downtime. Although the media had yet to get that elusive ‘kiss’ between the tennis players, they still peddled the whole slow-burn romance that was blossoming between them.</p><p>Kara had promised her that there was nothing to the rumours, but for Lena, it wasn’t enough. Six months after they’d shared that magical first night in London, she called things off.</p><p>It had taken all her strength and resolve not to crumble, especially hearing the blonde’s cries of desperation down the phone. Even if the rumours weren’t true, it didn’t matter. Things simply just weren't working between them, and Lena couldn’t handle it anymore. </p><p>She did what Luthors do best and built up a wall and hid from her feelings. She ignored Kara’s calls, texts and heck, even emails. She didn’t listen to Sam or Alex either. She shut them all out and focused on L-Corp and her work. Only at night, when she returned to her empty apartment that was filled with the memories of the tennis player, did she allow herself to grieve.</p><p>As the weeks passed, Kara’s calls and messages eventually stopped. Sam and Alex quit pestering her about the player, and instead just called every now and then to check-in. Other than that, she was completely alone once again.</p><p>Weeks turned to months, and months turned to years. Even so, the world continued to remind Lena of her first love. Even if she didn’t emotionally abuse herself by reading about Kara’s relationships in the gossip tabloids, everywhere she went, the tennis player followed.</p><p>The CEO would hear news reports of Kara’s tennis victories when she walked past her assistant Jess’ desk every morning. Her employees would offer her to join their betting pool for Wimbledon and other Grand Slams that Kara played in every year. She saw her in commercials for Nike, Coca Cola and...even Calvin <em> fucking </em> Klein.</p><p>The number of times she’d scrolled past the same damn social media video, trying not to stare at the image of Kara in nothing but a bra and booty shorts? The blonde angel smiled, laughed and boldly informed viewers:</p><p>
  <b>‘I play my best in #MyCalvins!’</b>
</p><p>So here Lena was, three years since their breakup and still completely in love with the tennis player. That’s why it wasn’t completely unreasonable to dismiss Mary’s request. The last thing the CEO wanted to do was run into Kara Danvers, let alone watch her play tennis.</p><p>“To be honest,” Lena said, finally replying to her brand manager. “I’m not a big fan of tennis. The trip would be wasted on me.”</p><p>Mary simply laughed.</p><p>“Yeah right!” she scoffed. “Don’t act like you haven’t spent the last year and a half personally overseeing L-Corp’s R&amp;D sports division. You practically designed every tennis racket that we put to market from scratch.”</p><p>Damn. Mary had got her there.</p><p>“Okay, but that still doesn’t give me a good reason to invest thousands of dollars into simply sponsoring a tennis tournament,” Lena countered. “Besides a trip to Paris, what’s in it for us?”</p><p>She was floundering slightly. Of course, Mary would give her a million and one reasons as to why they should. And no doubt, it would be a good investment for the company. Lena just didn’t want to hear it.</p><p>“Miss Luthor, the publicity and sales from Roland Garros alone would be enough to fund the production of the latest renewable energy prototypes we developed!” Mary argued.</p><p>Another good point. They really needed those prototypes developed to ensure they hit their green energy targets for the year. She was going to have to concede, wasn't she? Lena let out a deep sigh, bringing her hand up to massage her left temple. </p><p>“Okay,” she mumbled. “We’ll sponsor them, but I’m not going to Paris.”</p><p>Mary looked ecstatic at the news, but she persisted anyway.</p><p>“Lena, the event organisers have requested your presence personally. It’s tradition that the company head of the main sponsor attends the entire tournament. They’ll refuse the money otherwise.”</p><p><em> “What?” </em> Lena exclaimed, exasperated. “You’re kidding, right?”</p><p>“I wish I was,” Mary admitted, noticing her boss was having a mild panic attack over going. “It’ll be fine though, it’s just tennis after all!”</p><p><em> ‘Oh if only you knew,’ </em> The CEO thought. </p><p>The thought of seeing Kara again filled her with dread. It would be impossible to avoid her during the whole tournament. Even more so once she’d informed Sam that she’d be going. No doubt her best friend and the older Danvers sibling would concoct some sort of plan to get her and the tennis player in the same room together. </p><p>“Yeah, sure, whatever,” she grumbled, dismissing the brand manager with a wave of her hand. Mary gave her a thumbs up and started walking to the office door. </p><p>“O-kay, so I’ll go over the finer details and schedule with Jess on your behalf,” Mary offered, “You’ll fly out in two days.”</p><p>
  <em> “Fantastic.” </em>
</p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>“Again Kara!”</p><p>“What? But Brainy, we just played two games-”</p><p>“Out of twenty forehand shots, I calculated that only 89% of them were accurate. As for backhand, it was only 75%.”</p><p>“That’s pretty good, considering I’m playing with my weaker hand!” </p><p>The tennis player gawked. Her coach, Brainy, was a real hard-ass at times. The training he put her through was intense, even more so than Alex’s regime. But, Kara had to hand it to him, he’d made all the difference in helping her retain her titles. </p><p>When her sister had announced that she was retiring from coaching, the blonde was sad of course. But she’d also been overjoyed that Alex had finally decided to settle down with Sam. The two women were a perfect match, and if quitting coaching meant that Alex now had time to start a family, well how could Kara stand in her way? </p><p>Plenty of replacements came calling but she’d settled on Querl Dox the Fifth as her coach. Querl, or Brainy, as he was nicknamed, was a real genius when it came to the mathematics and tactics behind tennis. He was somewhat of a child prodigy in the understanding of the game and had even coached the likes of Novak Djokovic when he was just sixteen. </p><p>After winning all four major Grand Slam finals in a single year, Kara was desperate to show that she was going to stick around. Brainy had helped Novak become the legend that he was today, so it was a no brainer to pick him to help her further her career.</p><p>Of course it was a little strange having a coach that was younger than her - Brainy was only twenty-five - but he’d proved his worth when Kara retained both the US Open and Wimbledon trophies in 2019 and 2020 retrospectively. </p><p>“We’ll play again!” Brainy announced rather dramatically as he raised his racket into the air. “I’ll serve.”</p><p>Kara was goosed. In this particular training session, Brainy had her run three miles around the nearby sports track, complete a thirty-minute weight session in the gym, and now he’d just made her play two games - with five sets - back to back using her <em> left hand </em>. And this was all before noon!</p><p>Exhausted didn’t even begin to cut it. Her coach, on the other hand, was like some sort of energizer bunny. He didn’t seem to run out of energy.</p><p>Ignoring her pleas for a break, Brainy started bouncing the green tennis ball. Kara sighed and reluctantly got herself into position. The coach tossed the ball into the air and hit it with a respectable amount of power that even Kara envied.</p><p>It was an ace. </p><p>“Fifteen, love!” he stated. “Do better Kara!”</p><p>If Brainy ever decided to stop coaching, the blonde was sure that he'd have a good shot at becoming a pro himself.</p><p>The coach served again, and this time Kara managed to swing her racket out and return the ball with her left hand. The rally is a little longer than what Kara would have liked, but she ultimately won the point. This soon sets a precedent that doesn't let up, and after another two hours of playing, the game is over. Brainy loses again in straight sets.</p><p>After she won the match point, Kara threw her L-Corp branded racket on the floor and lay down exhausted on the court, breathing hard.</p><p>“Much better Kara!” Brainy booms as he waltzed over to her side of the net. “We’re done for today’s session. You’re ready for Monday’s match.”</p><p>“Thank god for that,” she rasped, a smile on her face.</p><p>She sat up and turned around to the sound of clapping from the stands next to the court. Nia had been there the entire time, cheering her on whilst filming the session for Kara’s social feeds. The girl was there as her social media manager, seeing how Kara’s own Instagram became too difficult to manage on her own whilst playing tennis.</p><p>Nia was a part of Obsidian, the talent agency Kara had hired to manage everything outside of tennis. At the time, it had seemed like the benefits outweigh the negatives when it came to working with Andrea and Obsidian. She had to hand it to them, they were great at managing all the media and PR requests that inundated her inbox. They did wonders for her image too, and had managed to land some great side gigs for her.</p><p>Plus, she’d made a friend for life in Nia! Seeing how the girl practically followed her around everywhere, it wasn’t surprising that they soon became friends. Even if Nia was a little bit too ‘woke’ for Kara when it came to some things, it was great having someone to vent to now that Alex wasn’t always around.</p><p>Obsidian was great, but she was starting to have some doubts. The sheer amount of exposure, events and commercials they lined up for her, meant that she had very little time to herself in between tennis matches. She’d not had a proper break since...well, since her two weeks with Lena in 2018.</p><p>
  <em> Lena. </em>
</p><p>That was perhaps the biggest regret Kara had. Obsidian had been partly to blame for their messy break up too. What with Andrea admitting that she told the press the lie about her and William Dey. Sure, it had got the papers talking about Kara, but not in the way the blonde wanted. And even worse, it cost her her relationship with the love of her life.</p><p>Kara knew that things had been strained between them before William-gate, but she was convinced that they could make things work. In fact, she’d even demanded Andrea at the time that they book a month off out of her schedule so she could spend the Christmas and New Year with Lena. That didn’t happen.</p><p>Andrea had promised that she would, but the promise was never kept. Instead, the <em> Daily Mail </em> ran the breaking news story that Kara and William were spotted getting close to one another, and that romance was blossoming. </p><p>Lena had been devastated.</p><p>She’d called Kara a day after the news broke. It was early December, and Kara was only a few days away from flying to National City to surprise the woman. As soon as Kara picked up she knew something was wrong. Lena had screamed in pain down the phone at her, her voice full of hurt and despair. And then, like ripping off a bandaid, she called the entire thing off, and no amount of crying or pleading seemed to change her mind. </p><p>Kara was heartbroken. She’d been a wreck over the festive period, it was lucky that she didn’t have any matches scheduled as no doubt she would have been thrashed. She only managed to pull herself together enough to compete in the 2019 Australian Open weeks later. Even then, she wasn’t 100% at her best, and got knocked out in the fourth round to the teenager Coco Gauff.</p><p>Of course, she’d tried to make Lena change her mind. She’d called and texted the CEO so much that even she started to think it was a little stalkerish. She’d sent flowers, chocolates, a damn mariachi band to Lena’s apartment, anything to try and get the brunette to listen. At the same time, she’d argued back and forth with Andrea, desperately trying to get even a day off to fly to National City.</p><p>Andrea wouldn’t let her. They had too many prior commitments that they’d booked in for her. Businesses, companies and charities were all relying on the blonde to show up to gala events, film sets and meet-and-greets. There was simply no free time.</p><p>So like the 2019 Australian Open title, Kara let Lena slip away from her grasp.</p><p>Over the next three years, she still kept tabs on the projects L-Corp were working on, as well as keeping an eye out for any conferences that Lena attended or spoke at. Of course she still used L-Corp designed tennis rackets, even when the likes of Wilson came knocking at her door for sponsorship. She put her foot down when it came to her beloved racket.</p><p>Everything in her life was hectic right now. She had all the fame and money in the world that most tennis players her age would kill for, but Kara couldn’t find herself caring. Playing tennis was the only thing to focus on that gave her a reprieve from the constant <em> ‘what-ifs?’ </em> that plagued her thoughts.</p><p>That’s why when a Grand Slam came around, she put her head down and focused on winning. This year’s Roland Garros was as important as ever, as she’d struggled to win the French Open since her first and only victory three years ago.</p><p>This year would be different, Kara swore that.</p><p>“Well done Kara!” Nia beamed as the blonde joined her outside the court. “Say hi to your fans on Insta live!”</p><p>The social manager held up the iPhone camera to Kara’s sweaty face. </p><p>Blushing slightly, the player simply grinned. She still wasn’t entirely comfortable with the fame aspect that came with her tennis success, but she was of course grateful to the fans that supported her through thick and thin.</p><p>“Hey everyone, I’m here training in Paris! I’m looking forward to seeing some of you at my match on Monday!” the blonde said cheerfully, looking into the camera. Feeling playful, she switched to French. <em> “Je vais gagner ça!” </em></p><p>Nia ended the live stream. Her eyes lit up as she saw that Twitter was going wild for the tennis player.</p><p>“Speaking French has got you trending on Twitter,” Nia said proudly. “Your fans are living for it!”</p><p>“What are they saying?” Kara asked, interested to know what the reactions were like.</p><p>“Listen to this…'<em> Kara Danvers is a total daddy, she could step on me and I’d say thank you!’” </em> </p><p>“Step on them? Why would I do that?”</p><p>“Here’s another from <b>@TeamDanversNo1Fan</b> on Twitter,” Nia cackled. “ <em> ‘I just watched Kara Danvers speak French and now I’m dead </em>’”</p><p>“Bit dramatic,” Kara joked.</p><p>“Ugh, Mike Matthews reshared it,” Nia grimaced. “He replied to your video saying <em> ‘voulez-vous coucher avec moi?’ </em> Like, eew, just gross.”</p><p>“Yeah, block him,” Kara instructed, trying not to shudder at the creepy antics of her ex. “You’d think after I socked him in the face three years ago he would’ve got the hint.”</p><p>“Wait, hold on a sec,” the social manager said. “You actually <em> punched </em> that misogynist piece of shit?”</p><p>“Yeah,” the blonde replied, remembering that fateful day. “Right before I won Wimbledon for the first time.”</p><p>“What did he do?” Nia asked, fully invested in the story.</p><p>“Well he’d just been bad-mouthing Le-”</p><p>Kara stopped herself before her tongue could even utter the other woman’s name. Memories of the CEO came flooding back to her for the second time that day. Without realising it, her face fell and her mood shifted. Nia seemed to notice and gave her a sympathetic look.</p><p>The tennis player had confided many times about her relationship with the head of L-Corp to Nia. The girl had lent her a shoulder to cry on more often than not, so she knew how sensitive the blonde was about memories of the CEO.</p><p>“Lena?” Nia whispered as Kara gave her a sad nod.</p><p>“Yeah...hey look, don’t worry,” Kara reassured, composing herself once more. “I’m okay. Let’s just not focus on that....”</p><p>“Okay, but there’s something you should probably know,” Nia began, looking shifty.</p><p>“Right?” Kara asked, confused. “What is it?”</p><p>The young girl took a deep breath. She obviously looked nervous to break the news she had to the tennis player.</p><p>“This year’s Roland Garros is being sponsored by L-Corp,” Nia squeaked, waiting for Kara’s reaction.</p><p>“Okay,” Kara replied casually with a shrug. “That’s not surprising.”</p><p>“Yeah but that’s not all,” Nia said. “Lena’s here.”</p><p> </p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>Lena had a sense of deja-vu as she stepped off her private jet at Charles de Gaulle airport and spotted Sam waiting for her with a Mercedes. It was just like the scene from three years ago, except this time they were in the beautiful French capital and the weather was nowhere near as warm as it had been in London.</p><p>This time, Lena had opted for a skirt, thick sheer pantyhose, a jumper and a winter coat. It was late Spring in Paris, but the weather definitely wasn't showing any signs that summer was just around the corner. Her outfit was complete with a pair of black, red-bottom Louboutin heels, which clicked along the tarmac of the runway as she made her way over to her friend.</p><p>“How was the flight?” Sam asked as the two women greeted each other with a hug.</p><p>“Dreadful,” Lena bemoaned. “Too much turbulence, it’s like the universe was trying to warn me not to come.”</p><p>“Yeah well, be thankful you weren’t crammed into a small carriage on the Eurostar,” Sam retorted with a roll of her eyes. “I'd take the private jet over keeping a grumpy teenager entertained on a train any day!”</p><p>“Speaking of, where is Ruby?” Lena asked, looking into the interior of the Mercedes for signs of her friend’s daughter.</p><p>“She’s with Alex,” Sam stated nonchalantly as the two women got into the car. “They’re in the city somewhere getting crêpes.”</p><p>“Oh, A-Alex is here too?” Lena stuttered, unaware that her ex’s sister would be joining them.</p><p>The CEO had remained on good terms with Alex, but it wasn’t like they’d spoken much since her breakup with Kara. The few conversations they’d had with each other usually were as a result of Sam. To be honest, Lena swore that the redhead was still a bit angry with the way Lena had been so quick to call things off with her sister.</p><p><em> “Duh,” </em> Sam said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Why wouldn’t she be? Her sister is playing in the tournament.”</p><p>Lena sighed, sinking further into the car’s leather seats.</p><p>“Don’t remind me,” she mumbled, Kara’s face plaguing her thoughts once more.</p><p>Sam leaned over and placed a comforting hand on the CEO’s knee.</p><p>“It’ll be okay,” the CFO reassured, trying to look on the bright side. “You’ll be so busy schmoozing with the tennis executives, that you’ll probably not even run into her!”</p><p>“The Roland Garros chairman has invited me to the opening match on Monday….Kara’s playing in it,” Lena revealed a hint of bitterness on her tongue. </p><p>“Oh…” Sam said, her voice trailing off.</p><p>
  <em> “Yeah.” </em>
</p><p>Sam frowned, her face full of worry and concern. She took in the appearance of the CEO. Lena’s make-up, hair and outfit was well put together, but if you looked closely, you could see the bags under her eyes, the slight wrinkle of frown lines on her forehead. She looked tired, stressed and...well, <em> sad </em>.</p><p><em> ‘She’s such a lovesick fool,’ </em> Sam thought to herself. <em> ‘What am I going to do with her?’ </em></p><p>“Hey, I have an idea!” Sam beamed, trying to pull her friend out of her funk. “Why don’t we get the driver to stop off at Cafe Rue Serret off the Champs-Élysées? We can get some of those coffee eclairs you love so much?”</p><p>Lena flashed her friend a small, but genuine smile.</p><p>“I’d like that.”</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>--</p><p> </p><p>Kara bounced around in the tunnel impatiently.</p><p>It was Monday 17th May 2021, the opening day of the prestigious Roland Garros Open, and the blonde was playing the very first match on the Philippe-Chatrier centre court. She was waiting for her opponent, the legendary Venus Williams, who was yet to emerge from the locker room. Butterflies swirled in Kara’s stomach as she stretched her legs, and swung her racket bag back and forth on her shoulder nervously. </p><p>Unable to stand still, she started readjusting the outfit that her sponsors had picked out for her to wear during the tournament. She donned a pair of small navy shorts, a white v-neck t-shirt and vibrant baby blue tennis sneakers. She finished her outfit off with her signature white Nike-branded bandana, that was embroidered with the iconic swoosh logo. It was a cool, crisp day, so she also had on a light white training jacket over her outfit that she’d removed once they started playing.</p><p>This would be a tough first round. Although Venus had slipped down the rankings over the years due to injuries and age, she was still a brilliant tennis player who’d managed to wipe the floor with up and coming players that were half her age. Kara was beyond nervous, and it surprisingly had nothing to do with playing one-half of the Williams sisters.</p><p>All she could think about was a certain CEO that she knew was out there in the stands, about to watch her play. The same woman who she’d not seen in person in over three years, and was still totally in love with. So yeah, Kara was struggling to keep her focus on the game at hand.</p><p>One of the French officials, a lovely but straight-faced man called Pierre, appeared by the blonde’s side. Internally, Kara chuckled to herself at how much the Frenchman reminded her of the Wimbledon official, Jeffrey, who’d ushered the blonde around back during her first appearance in London.</p><p>“Ahh, <em> Mademoiselle Danvers </em> ,” Pierre said politely. “Your opponent is all set. Whenever you are ready, make your way onto the court <em> s'il vous plaît?” </em></p><p>"Gotcha, <em> merci </em> Pierre!” Kara thanked as she started to make her way down the tunnel.</p><p>Turning right, she could see the exit that led out onto the orange coloured clay court. The player could hear the low din of the crowd as they talked to one another, that would no doubt erupt once she stepped onto the clay. As Kara neared the threshold that would put her in full view of the spectators, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Focus, Kara.’ </em>
</p><p>She pushed on and walked out into the arena. The light chatter of the spectators suddenly erupted into a roar of cheers and whistles. Fans yelled out her name and clapping echoed around the open roof court as the blonde came into their view.</p><p>Putting on a megawatt smile, Kara lifted her arm up and waved to the crowd as she made her way over to the players seating area, next to the umpire. She tried her best not to scan the stands, looking for the one face that mattered the most. If Lena was there as a sponsor, there was no doubt she’d be seated next to the chairman and officials of the tournament, who often sat pretty much in line with where she’d be serving.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Just great.’ </em>
</p><p>The crowd roared again as Venus Williams entered behind Kara, receiving some much-deserved praise for the former Grand Slam champion. Making no eye contact with the crowd, Kara set about placing her bag and branded towels on the bench, before pulling out her racket and making her way over to the baseline to warm up.</p><p>She smiled at a redhead ball girl who stood nearby with a handful of tennis balls and motioned for her to chuck one over. The girl, who looked a little starstruck, blushed and threw one to the player. Kara controlled it with her racket as it landed by her feet, before bouncing the ball up to chest height so she could grab it with her hand.</p><p>“Thanks!” she said to the ball girl, who replied with a rushed nod before she ran back to her allocated position.</p><p>Venus had now made her own way to the baseline opposite Kara, so the two began gently rallying the ball back and forth over the net as a warm-up. The blonde was practising her serves when it happened.</p><p>She’d just about thrown one of the tennis balls up into the air, ready to slam it back down with the momentum of her racket, when her gaze drifted over to a section of the crowd. Her eyes instantly landed on Lena, who was sitting next to a couple of stuffy, old looking officials, watching her intently.</p><p>Blue met green and without warning, Kara faltered. </p><p>She swung the racket to the left of the falling ball, missing it completely and making her look like a fool in the process. Some of the spectators in the crowd let out a few teasing jeers.  Tearing her eyes away from the CEO, and still blushing from her blunder, Kara laughed the mistake off and shrugged at the crowd. After practising a few more serves, the umpire announced that it was time to start the match.</p><p>Kara quickly jogged over to her bench and quickly pulled off her training jacket. A few wolf whistles echoed around the arena. Ignoring them, Kara snuck another glance over at Lena, who was still watching her with her irresistible gaze. The brunette’s face gave nothing away, but Kara knew Lena enough to know that she was probably just as nervous as she was to see her.</p><p>Taking a risk, Kara gave her a small wave. Lena looked shocked at the motion, but cautiously returned the blonde’s gesture. The tennis player grinned, before trotting back to the baseline ready to begin.</p><p><em> ‘Maybe, just maybe...I have a chance to fix things,’ </em> Kara thought as she readied herself to serve for the first set.</p><p>Shaking her head, she drowned out all thoughts of the CEO and focused on the tennis match ahead. </p><p> </p>
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